Reality Check: The market in Warkworth, Mahurangi and Matakana

This 414sq m home on 4.8ha of land is an example of the top end coastal property available on the Matakana coast.

This week's Coast & Country section features two properties in the Warkworth and Matakana area, and last week's cover story was about an orchard also near Warkworth. What is it about this area that makes it so appealing, and what can you get for your money?

Its proximity to Auckland is a big factor in its growing popularity. The motorway extension to Orewa has brought it within an hour of the city, and the extended bypass to Puhoi, due for completion about 2009, will reduce the drive to about 45 minutes. Here you find rolling hills, vineyards, orchards, and beautiful beaches along the Mahurangi Peninsula, at the Tauwharanui Regional Park and Omaha. Ferries from Sandspit will take you to Kawau and Tiritiri Matangi Islands - with the Hauraki Gulf at its doorstep, this is boaties' heaven.

Warkworth town, fanning out from its pretty river boundary, still has a village atmosphere. At the 2001 census, only 2826 people lived there, while 76,185 people lived in the wider Rodney district. It is growing faster than most of the country, however. Since the previous census, its population had increased by about 14 per cent, compared to 3.3 per cent for New Zealand as a whole.

There is a greater proportion of Pakeha among the residents than in the rest of the country, and they tend to be a bit older. Their income is, however, about the same. For those with families, there is good schooling up to secondary level.

Quotable Value's independent figures show that in the three months to August the average house price in Rodney was $402,319, an increase of 14.5 per cent on the same time period last year. Ben Kloppers of Harveys real estate says a four bedroom house in Warkworth's new Totara Park subdivision costs about $700,000.

This is a favourite area for townies to escape to lifestyle blocks, and the sharp increase in their prices reflect this. QV's figures show the average sale price of a block with a house on it around Warkworth in the first half of this year was $805,963, compared to $471,781 for the first half of 2003. Kloppers adds that a small block of 1 to 2 ha with a house can be bought for $650,000 to $750,000.

There is some beautiful coastal property up here, although prices vary depending on where it is. Kloppers says a big waterfront house at tidal Snell's Beach on the Mahurangi Peninsula might cost you $800,000, but a couple of kilometres further north, the equivalent property at Algie's Bay, which has an all-tide boat ramp, would cost $2 million to $3 million. A 1ha block of bare land with riparian rights would cost about $600,000.

Rodney District Council's director of strategy and policy, Ree Anderson, says the council is planning to improve infrastructure such as wastewater disposal in areas such as Matakana township, where 27 more subdivision lots have been approved.

For Warkworth, a Structure Plan allows for residential and retail growth, and the possible development of a business park, but issues such as transport access need to be worked through projects are given the go ahead.